2010 Coffee Storage Census

[Arjun Mendiratta]

Ian, the popcorn popper is the traditional introduction to home coffee roasting. It works quite well. The two main drawbacks are the inability to attain very dark roasts and the small batch size, necessitating frequent roasting.

The classic choice is the Westbend Poppery II, although there are those who prefer the Poppery I. Last I checked, both of these can be found on eBay for around $30. However, any air popper with sufficiently high power (1500 W is ideal) will work.

 

[Oswaldo Costa]

Arjun, those new dry rieslings can be quite high in alcohol. One needs to be careful... I could have mentioned Karl Popper at some point (no, that was Texier), but popcorn poppers? Beneath my radar scream.

 

[Arjun Mendiratta]

Ouch. Edited.

 

[VLM]

originally posted by Bwood:

originally posted by MLipton:

originally posted by Bwood:

I finally just bought one. I am curious about the magnitude of difference.

The difference is quite noticeable for someone like me who uses a French press. I set the burr grinder on the coarsest setting for the press, and a blade grinder would give me a very broad distribution of particle sizes. The finer the grind, the less profound the difference, though.

Mark Lipton

A big difference between having a bag ground every 4-5 days (and keeping in fridge) and grinding beans daily at home for french press?

Hell yes.

What brand of burr grinder?

I've had bad luck with what I've tried.

 

[Scott Kraft]

Mazzer is one of the few.

 

[Andy Beaton]

originally posted by Bwood:

originally posted by MLipton:

originally posted by Bwood:

I finally just bought one. I am curious about the magnitude of difference.

The difference is quite noticeable for someone like me who uses a French press. I set the burr grinder on the coarsest setting for the press, and a blade grinder would give me a very broad distribution of particle sizes. The finer the grind, the less profound the difference, though.

Mark Lipton

A big difference between having a bag ground every 4-5 days (and keeping in fridge) and grinding beans daily at home for french press?

Enormous. From the moment coffee is roasted, it is releasing carbon-dioxide. When you grind a bean, you're quickly releasing the carbon-dioxide, that's inside. That is the reason coffee smells so good coming out of the grinder. The goal is to capture as many of those fleeting flavors as possible by grinding within seconds of extracting.

Going back to the storage debate, it's C and here's why it's not A. If youre constantly taking coffee beans out of the freezer and putting them back, you will attract moisture to the beans, which is bad. If you leave them in the freezer for days, the beans will lose moisture - also bad. When you grind frozen beans, they end up cracking, leaving you with non-uniform chunks and dust.

That being said, if you don't care about the difference in the cup, consider yourself lucky.

 

[Claude Kolm]

originally posted by Andy Beaton:
Going back to the storage debate, it's C and here's why it's not A. If youre constantly taking coffee beans out of the freezer and putting them back, you will attract moisture to the beans, which is bad. If you leave them in the freezer for days, the beans will lose moisture - also bad. When you grind frozen beans, they end up cracking, leaving you with non-uniform chunks and dust.

Andy -- This is consistent with what I've read, but in practice just doesn't match my results from reaching into the freezer, pulling out a sealed jar, unscrewing it, pulling out some beans, and immediately resealing it and putting it back in the freezer.

 

[JasonA]

originally posted by Scott Kraft:
Mazzer is one of the few.

Maser is top of the line with a price to match. You can get a very good starter machine, like a Baratza Maestro Plus, for less than $150.

 

[Andy Beaton]

originally posted by JasonA:

originally posted by Scott Kraft:
Mazzer is one of the few.

Maser is top of the line with a price to match. You can get a very good starter machine, like a Baratza Maestro Plus, for less than $150.

The Maestro Plus and Virtuoso are probably the two best grinders under three bills and they'll do a fine job, as long as you're not pulling espresso regularly.

 

[Scott Kraft]

originally posted by JasonA:

originally posted by Scott Kraft:
Mazzer is one of the few.

Maser is top of the line with a price to match. You can get a very good starter machine, like a Baratza Maestro Plus, for less than $150.

I'm not a fan, but you can find it for $100. I recommend looking on eBay and Craigslist for a used Mazzer. I understand from the financial pages that a lot of cafs have gone out of business recently.

 

[JasonA]

originally posted by Andy Beaton:

originally posted by Bwood:

originally posted by MLipton:

originally posted by Bwood:

I finally just bought one. I am curious about the magnitude of difference.

The difference is quite noticeable for someone like me who uses a French press. I set the burr grinder on the coarsest setting for the press, and a blade grinder would give me a very broad distribution of particle sizes. The finer the grind, the less profound the difference, though.

Mark Lipton

A big difference between having a bag ground every 4-5 days (and keeping in fridge) and grinding beans daily at home for french press?

Enormous. From the moment coffee is roasted, it is releasing carbon-dioxide. When you grind a bean, you're quickly releasing the carbon-dioxide, that's inside. That is the reason coffee smells so good coming out of the grinder. The goal is to capture as many of those fleeting flavors as possible by grinder within seconds of extracting.

That being said, if you don't care about the difference in the cup, consider yourself lucky.

Storage (of roasted beans) of any kind is the enemy. Roasted coffee is very analogous to opening a bottle of wine. The coffee is hitting its peak a three or four days after roasting and then starts going down hill. Buy it whole bean, with roasted date stamp, in small quantities, and don't be afraid to throw it out once it gets too old.

 

[Andy Beaton]

originally posted by JasonA:

originally posted by Andy Beaton:

originally posted by Bwood:

originally posted by MLipton:

originally posted by Bwood:

I finally just bought one. I am curious about the magnitude of difference.

The difference is quite noticeable for someone like me who uses a French press. I set the burr grinder on the coarsest setting for the press, and a blade grinder would give me a very broad distribution of particle sizes. The finer the grind, the less profound the difference, though.

Mark Lipton

A big difference between having a bag ground every 4-5 days (and keeping in fridge) and grinding beans daily at home for french press?

Enormous. From the moment coffee is roasted, it is releasing carbon-dioxide. When you grind a bean, you're quickly releasing the carbon-dioxide, that's inside. That is the reason coffee smells so good coming out of the grinder. The goal is to capture as many of those fleeting flavors as possible by grinder within seconds of extracting.

That being said, if you don't care about the difference in the cup, consider yourself lucky.

Storage (of roasted beans) of any kind is the enemy. Roasted coffee is very analogous to opening a bottle of wine. The coffee is hitting its peak a three or four days after roasting and then starts going down hill. Buy it whole bean, with roasted date stamp, in small quantities, and don't be afraid to throw it out once it gets too old.

(A) Yep (B) "...by grinder within seconds of extracting." Grinder? Really? (C) BTW, I just double-checked and the fridge is indeed the worst option. In the fridge, you're attracting moisture, but it doesn't get quite cold enough to freeze, so water just lingers in the beans.

 

[Thor]

And in fact you can see the difference between frozen and fresh for yourself in a grinder: from the freezer, there are indeed chunks, and there's also a collection of a lighter-colored dust that attaches itself to whatever the highest-charged surface is (at least, I assume that's the mechanism). There's much, much less of this at room temp.

The taste difference also seems rather dramatic, at least to me.

 

[VLM]

originally posted by Scott Kraft:

originally posted by JasonA:

originally posted by Scott Kraft:
Mazzer is one of the few.

Maser is top of the line with a price to match. You can get a very good starter machine, like a Baratza Maestro Plus, for less than $150.

I'm not a fan, but you can find it for $100. I recommend looking on eBay and Craigslist for a used Mazzer. I understand from the financial pages that a lot of cafs have gone out of business recently.

Mazzer. Thx.

 

[JasonA]

A quick check on ebay revels that a used Mazzer Mini is going to set you back at least $400. If you are an espresso aficionado than by all means, it is a better investment than the espresso machine itself. But for press or drip coffee, I fail to see the need.

 

[Tom Glasgow]

originally posted by VLM:

originally posted by Scott Kraft:

originally posted by JasonA:

originally posted by Scott Kraft:
Mazzer is one of the few.

Maser is top of the line with a price to match. You can get a very good starter machine, like a Baratza Maestro Plus, for less than $150.

I'm not a fan, but you can find it for $100. I recommend looking on eBay and Craigslist for a used Mazzer. I understand from the financial pages that a lot of cafs have gone out of business recently.

Mazzer. Thx.

This looks good: Virtuoso Coffee Grinder by Baratza at chriscoffee for $200. There is also a $100 version you could research.

A Mazzer is probably overkill unless you're into espresso.

 

[Arjun Mendiratta]

Yeah, the Baratza Maestro is a good little mill. $150 at Sweet Maria's. You could probably pay less somewhere else, but Oakland needs the revenue.

 

[Cole Kendall]

We are happy with a Rancilio Rocky grinder, but it's not cheap. Built like a tank and may outlast us.

 

[Claude Kolm]

originally posted by Cole Kendall:
We are happy with a Rancilio Rocky grinder, but it's not cheap. Built like a tank and may outlast us.

Me happy, too.

 

[mlawton]

Gaggia burr grinder here. Works fine for me, but I don't do coffee - only espresso, so I don't adjust the grind much.